Blog Tour Review: Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold Cookbook

Susan Mallery’s Fool’s Gold Cookbook: A Love Story Told Through 150 Recipes

Series: Fool’s Gold #12.1

Published: August 27th, 2013

Publisher: Harlequin

272 pages

Genre: Cookbook/contemporary romance

Acquired this book: From the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Warning: May contain spoilers

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New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery invites you to taste the local cuisine of her beloved fictional town and share in a year's worth of deliciously seasonal recipes. 

Fool's Gold is known as the Land of Happy Endings, but it's also the land of hearty appetites. Throughout the series, the residents of Fool's Gold have found joy, comfort and good times through food. Now two local Fool's Gold chefs will also find love through food! Join them as they flirt, fight, and fall in love, one season at a time.

You'll also find favorite recipes from popular characters in the series, such as:

Heidi's Arugula, Corn and Cherry Tomato Salad with Goat Cheese

Liz's Spaghetti for the Girls

Denise's Summer Berry Pie 

With chapters for summer, spring, fall, and winter, you can find the perfect recipe for everything from holiday get-togethers to cozy date nights, always using the freshest ingredients. And the heartwarming love story that is woven throughout is Susan Mallery at her finest.

The more than 150 recipes and dozens of gorgeous photographs in this book will inspire you to find perfection in the simple and the seasonal. And with all of Fool's Gold with you in the kitchen, your every celebration will have a happy ending!

I have a confession to make: before the Fool’s Gold Cookbook, I’d never read any of Susan Mallery’s books. I’ve had her books on my to be read list for ages and I even own several of them, but I’ve never actually read them. My mum, however, is a huge Susan Mallery fan and has read almost all her books. That being said, Susan has a special place in my heart. Why? About a year and a half ago, Susan held a contest for her book Barefoot Season. Entrants had to make a video telling her why they wanted the book. The grand prize was a signed copy of Barefoot Season and $300 in Amazon gift cards. While I didn’t win the grand prize, I did win a signed copy of Barefoot Season, because Susan liked my video (which I dedicated to my mum). I was so incredibly touched; I hadn’t told my mum about my entry, so the day the book arrived, I showed her my video and gave her the book as a gift. She was beyond thrilled. 

Between my mum, Susan Mallery’s Facebook fan page, and a few of my blogging friends, I’ve heard a lot of great things about Fool’s Gold. When I heard about the Fool’s Gold Cookbook, I thought it was a brilliant idea - a cookbook and a love story all in one. I love to cook; I do all the cooking in my home, and have for several years. Most of what I know I learned from family members, trial and error, and the Food Network. I don’t often follow recipes because a) I like to be creative and make stuff up (which is why I’m not the best baker); and b) I often find recipes too hard to follow, or they have ingredients I don’t have on hand/don't have access to/can’t afford to buy.

I didn’t have those problems with Fool’s Gold Cookbook. What was so fantastic about it was that the recipes were easy to follow, there were no hard-to-find ingredients, and there were also no ingredients that would break the bank. The majority of recipes used things you’d likely already have on hand or that would be easy to get. Each recipe had a description of the dish, and a tip to either save time or money, which was great. So many recipes in cookbooks are time-consuming and/or so convoluted they’re hard to follow, but the Fool’s Gold Cookbook was really easy to follow. I also loved that the book was broken down by season. Whether you’re looking for a recipe for a cold winter's day, something fast and easy when the weather’s hot, or something with seasonal spring or fall ingredients, you’ll find it in the Fool’s Gold Cookbook. Plus the photos are absolutely gorgeous!

This macaroni and cheese recipe was very similar to my own (which I'm famous for in my family - I have to make it for every holiday and gathering), but with a few variations. The toasted garlic bread crumb topping was amazing. I'm going to do this from now on when I make mac and cheese. 

Tomato soup is one of my favourite foods ever, but I've never made it myself. This roasted tomato soup was easy and delicious. The actual recipe includes a cheddar crostini but I decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches instead because I didn't have a chance to go out and get a baguette.

Another thing I loved about the book was the love story woven throughout. I’m a sucker for romance, and this was a really sweet one. Despite being a short story, the characters really popped off the pages. I thought it was cool that they mentioned some of the recipes that were in the cookbook itself, and talked about the process of making the cookbook. It made me even more eager to finally get started with the Fool’s Gold series.

Susan Mallery’s Fool’s Gold Cookbook is absolutely beautiful. It’s obvious a lot of time and attention went into creating the recipes, and creating the book itself, which now has a place of honour in my kitchen. The love story was sweet and romantic, like a perfect little treat at the end of a delicious meal. If you enjoy cooking and/or baking, you should add this book to your collection. Whether you’re a die hard fan of the Fool’s Gold series, or you’ve never read the books, it’s a wonderful addition to any kitchen. 

 

With more than 25 million books sold worldwide, New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery is known for creating characters who feel as real as the folks next door, and for putting them into emotional, often funny situations readers recognize from their own lives. Susan’s books have made Booklist’s Top 10 Romances list in four out of five consecutive years. RT Book Reviews says, “When it comes to heartfelt contemporary romance, Mallery is in a class by herself.” With her popular, ongoing Fool’s Gold series, Susan has reached new heights on the bestsellers lists and has won the hearts of countless new fans.

Susan grew up in southern California, moved so many times that her friends stopped writing her address in pen, and now has settled in Seattle with her husband and the most delightfully spoiled little dog who ever lived.

Find Susan online:

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Have you read any of Susan Mallery's Fool's Gold books? Or any of her other books? Do you like to cook?

 

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